I had the pleasure of meeting Sylvia Calvo at Eco Fashion Week Australia 2017. After reviewing her sustainable fashion collection, I discovered she is an innovative, eco-friendly designer gaining recognition in Europe.

Related story: Jose Hendo wows audiences with ancient barkcloth at EFWA

Her commitment to using sustainable materials, like salvaging jute coffee bags from Barcelona’s Harbour, is innovative. She collaborates with Hilaturas Jesús Rubio to shred and repurpose these bags into new yarn. All are locally crafted in Barcelona, bolstering the local economy, minimizing carbon emissions, and contributing to her couture collections.

In her latest Indonesia fashion collection at EFWA 2024, she repurposes cotton coffee bags sourced directly from Indonesia through a joint project involving local growers and This Side Up, an Amsterdam-based specialty coffee importer.

The project began with This Side Up employing a local artist to create an original design and colours for the cotton coffee bags. They decided to silkscreen the bags using inks derived from food waste, like coffee grounds, to produce a brown colour, thereby avoiding toxins and generating more jobs within the local community.

Preparing cotton coffee bags for reuse before their first use has eliminated the transportation carbon footprint. 

At This Side Up, the Amsterdam warehouse has benefited from using vibrant cotton coffee bags. These bags have improved inventory management efficiency, minimized shipping errors, and reduced operational costs by lowering the carbon footprint associated with additional deliveries and pickups due to mistakes. 

Sylvia Calvo has created something extraordinary with her partners based on Circular Economy principles, positively impacting the entire value chain from Indonesia to Barcelona. 

In her studio in Barcelona, she creates garments from cotton coffee bags. From skirts to pants, each item highlights circular sustainability by utilizing minimal new materials and a high proportion of recycled content.

The message for all of us is to embrace the beauty of eco-friendly fashion and allow our wardrobes to reflect our values—because looking stylish should never be at the expense of our planet.

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Diversity is part of all designer runway shows today, but the industry standard expects female models to be a minimum of five feet 10 inches tall and have a size two figure. As female models have caught up to their male counterparts, male models must now be six feet two inches or taller once the ladies put on their high heels. 

Above photo: Designer Joschua

Dr. Zuhal Kuvan-Mills, Director of Eco Fashion Week Australia, has always selected models of various heights and body sizes, reflecting the world in which we live today. Her models ranged from five feet to the standard and included different body types. Typically, shorter models are used for catalogue photography and as fit models.

Fashion runway shows are designed to be an immersive experience that conveys the designer’s brand. Usually, it lasts less than 15 minutes, resulting in months of preparation and hundreds of thousands of dollars for fashion models, a backstage crew of make-up and hair artists, tailors, lighting technicians, runway photographers, choreographers, musicians or deejays, emcee, and a stage manager.

Over the past decade, social media has made fashion shows more theatrical, which I find distracting. However, nothing replaces a well-made and cohesive collection on the runway. 

Top European designer seasonal collection shows now feature more than 100 models lasting up to 30 minutes. Their straight-line runway shows always leave a lasting impression that captivates audiences, for it is all about the garments.

When I review a designer collection from the front row, the first outfit must wow me, and the anchor – the last garment must be awe-inspiring. During the show, the assortment must build on the collection for their prospective clients.

A designer collection isn’t remarkable because of extravagant staging. Selecting the right model who speaks to your audience, regardless of height or body measurement, creates memories that remain with us. 

That’s the winning formula with the fashion models from Eco Fashion Week Australia.

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